My head is going to EXPLODE! Please help me!
jlmccabemax
Posts: 4
I would appreciate any advice that some of you experts out there might be able to offer. I am really having a problem deciding on how many calories to eat each day. This is the first time that I am trying to lose weight. I HAVE READ THROUGH MANY THREADS ON HERE regarding how to calculate but every website/calculator I go to seems to give me a different number. To add to my confusion I am FULLTIME BREASTFEEDING and I really don't know how to decide how many calories to add back in. If anyone wants to help me I'd be thankful!
age: 35
current: 172
goal: 145 ish
5'8"
activity: im on day 4 of 30 day shred. right now thats the only official exercise
i do hv 4 kids and am active most of my day as far as everyday activities
breastfeeding 8mo day/night every 3 hr the general advice seems to be 300-500cal for this but using a more specific online calc. it estimated im actually burning 800 cal (40oz x 20cal p/oz)
my questions are: is my activity moderate. light, active ??
for breastfeeding should i add 300, 500, 800??
i really dont want to eat too many or too little and be disappointed. please help!!! how many f@&^#g! calories do i eat? lol
age: 35
current: 172
goal: 145 ish
5'8"
activity: im on day 4 of 30 day shred. right now thats the only official exercise
i do hv 4 kids and am active most of my day as far as everyday activities
breastfeeding 8mo day/night every 3 hr the general advice seems to be 300-500cal for this but using a more specific online calc. it estimated im actually burning 800 cal (40oz x 20cal p/oz)
my questions are: is my activity moderate. light, active ??
for breastfeeding should i add 300, 500, 800??
i really dont want to eat too many or too little and be disappointed. please help!!! how many f@&^#g! calories do i eat? lol
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Replies
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Anyone?0
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Don't lose weight while breast feeding. Go talk to your OBGYN about this.
A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition0 -
I have no numbers for you (my bf years are far behind me) but you can find all sorts of threads if you search the subject "Breastfeeding Moms..." on here. I remember reading about, and wanting to pass it on to my daughters who are/soon will be breastfeeding.
One thing I will warn from my own experience is that you can do too much. My third child actually had "failure to thrive" and was sickly thin and needed hospitalization at 2 months old cuz I was a mom with two older kids who thought I knew what I was doing since I'd already succeeded twice before and thought I could do it all. Guess what-- I had nothing left to give at that point.
So take it easy, eat back all your exercise calories and get plenty of rest!!0 -
My friend is also breastfeeding and is eating around 1800 with 300 of those calories added on top of her 1500 calorie allotment. She's doing Weight Watchers. As far as the question regarding type of exercise, it depends on how much you're actually putting into it. With Insanity at 154 lbs, I burn 300-350 for 40 minutes. I know this because I have a BodyBugg. Do you have the means to purchase a heart rate monitor?You can also learn how to check your heart rate so you can estimate your burn. I wouldn't think 30 Day Shred would be considered intense so I'd calculate it on the lower end, even though I'm sure it's consistent cardio. However, there are probably estimates on the internet of how many calories other people doing the program are burning.
One calculator that I like is here:
http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm
I like it because it gives you a range for caloric intake. So if you want to be aggressive, you take the lowest number. And if you want to lose it slower, you take the higher number.
How many calories are you currently allowing yourself?0 -
Another thing, I hear ya about finding different advice. Happens all the time, no matter whether we're talking calories, healthy carb/fat/protein ratios, what a healthy weight/body fat is, etc., etc. You gotta do your own research and decide which advice you will take. Good luck!0
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^^ This ^^Don't lose weight while breast feeding. Go talk to your OBGYN about this.
A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition0 -
Deep breaths, this isn't hard!
Just start by putting into the calculator HERE on MFP your info to start with. That will make things easier than worrying about outside calculators and such. It will give you a basic starting point. Admittedly, I absolutely am useless when it comes to the breastfeeding thing so I can't help you there. Hopefully someone else can or use some of the other breastfeeding posts (or there must be a group on here??) to give you an idea where to start. I would say start high with the calories if you're still breastfeeding just to ensure adequate nutrition, but that's just my VERY non-expert opinion. If you have 4 kids you're probably on your feet most of the day, so that would likely be moderate or heavy activity (that's up to you to decide).
Once you do this for a few weeks or months, you can tweak the numbers and use other calculations but just start with the basics. Don't forget - this calculator on here assumes you don't exercise until you tell it you do so once you add in exercise you get to eat those calories back. Always fun to earn a few extra calories!
Good luck! :drinker:0 -
Find the thread titled, "An easier way to setup goal calories - eating for who you wi." (The title is cut off; the last part is "eating for who you will be.")
The guy who started that thread, "heybales," is very helpful. Just post a shortened version of your opening message there, and he'll try to walk you through it.0 -
Bump0
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Don't lose weight while breast feeding. Go talk to your OBGYN about this.
A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
I agree and DISagree with this. You can successfully lose weight while breastfeeding without negatively affecting yourself and/or the baby. However, you should discuss it with both your OBGYN and the baby's doctor to ensure that you are getting all the info you need.
You are going to need to be very attentive to nutrients because remember, your body will naturally give all it can to the baby and will deplete your stores so you don't want to become deficient in any nutrients. And I would suggest a slower approach to the weight loss 1 pound a week at most.
Since Weight Watchers has a program for breastfeeding moms, I found this article for you. It has some good info
http://www.weightwatchers.com/util/art/index_art.aspx?tabnum=1&art_id=24571
Good Luck! and keep us updated0 -
I've personally found it all too confusing too.
MFP gave me 1200 and that's what I try to stick to but my advice initially would be, go with moderate activity but include everything extra you do in the log, walks, keep fit DVDs etc as it gives you extra calories each day and put the minimum allowance on for breast feeding for starters, 300 may be enough but only your body really knows.
Do take the pressure off yourself a bit, if the recommended calories on here plus added for the feeding are too tough at first, measure the calories of what you usually eat (pre diet) on here for a few days to get an honest idea of what you eat and reduce to somewhere near what they suggest here but what is easily manageable at first. Most importantly try to go easy on sugar, processed food, junk etc and try to get as much fresh fruit and veg in as you can. Always easier said than done but it sounds like you are doing an amazing job already with the exercise, juggling that with the kids, feeding and life in general.
Perhaps up your water intake and keep checking back for motivation. Add as many friends as you can on here for extra support and ideas. I was getting no where fast but now my news feed is full of motivation. Feel free to add me too if you like.
Good luck and well done for being a great mum
xxx0 -
I believe if you are breastfeeding you only need to add an additional 500 calories to your diet. Therefore if you set your goal to lose 2 pounds, just eat an additional 500 calories. If you are not getting enough calories in your diet, you will be able to tell a few ways. First way, your baby will be hungry more frequently because the milk you are producing will be light. (I had this problem when I was breastfeeding. I didn't have fatty milk so I was always feeding my child. The lactation consultant said it was like comparing whole milk to skim milk) What you eat will make difference in how fatty your breast milk is. Another thing to watc for is your supply. If you are drastically cutting your calories, you will start to lose your milk. Mainly because it won't have enough to fuel milk production.
That being said - you are going to have to play with the numbers. Set a realtistic weight loss goal with MFP and watch your supply. If you notice your baby isn't getting enough or your supply is dropping - make sure you are adding more calories (than the already 500 or so you should have added.) But, if you find you are gaining or staying the same, it is probably safe to say that you can drop a few calories to give yourself a deficit.
Hope that helps. Good luck!0 -
Okay, before I give you numbers I want to make sure you know my qualifications in determining them. I've been a certified personal trainer for almost 16 years. I've been a certified sports nutritionist for 6 years. As part of my certifications, I've completed continuing education classes in pre- and postpartum exercise. I've just completed my bachelor of science in exercise physiology with a minor in nutrition. Both the bachelors and minor were specific for working with clinical populations (including pregnant and breastfeeding mothers). The advice I will give you is based on the things I've learned in my coursework and exactly what I would do with a client.
There are numerous formulas out there and they use different things. Ideally, I would prefer to use your lean body mass in a formula instead of your total body mass, but since I don't have your body fat % I will go with the Institute of Medicine's formula for women.
354 - 6.91 x age + [ Physical Activity x ( 9.361 x Weight in Kilograms + 726 x Height in Meters)]
Physical activity is a figure based on your normal daily activity including exercise, which for you I'd set as active and use a figure of 1.27. (All of these figures and the formula for men can be found in the book "Nutrition for Health, Fitness, and Sport" by Melvin Williams.)
So, for you, here is the math.
354 - 6.91 x 35 + [ 1.27 x ( 9.361 x 78.0186882 + 726 x 1.7272)]
354 - 241.85 + [1.27 x (730.3329402 + 1253.9472)]
112.15 + [1.27 x 1984.28014]
112.15 + 2520.035778
2632.185778
I would then add in 500 Calories for breastfeeding, which would give you a total of 3132 Calories per day for your Total Daily Energy Expenditure. For weight loss, I recommend eating no less then 80% of your TDEE. 80% of your TDEE would be 2506 Calories per day. So, my recommendation would be to eat between 2506 and 3132 Calories per day to lose weight and still provide adequate nutrition for breastfeeding.
Now, this is based on total body weight and not lean mass. To promote fat loss, I was taught another way of figuring calorie needs based on subtracting out the body fat from the total body weight to have the lean mass number to put in a different formula. Since I don't have your body fat %, I can't accurately do that formula but I did estimate it and plug it in with a guesstimate of 30% body fat. (I used 30% body fat as that is the average body fat percentage I've seen working in women's fitness centers for the past 8 years, but is in no way a scientific average body fat for women so it may be high or low for you.) This formula is much simpler because it is 1 Calorie per kilogram of lean body weight per hour to estimate BMR. BMR is then multiplied by a physical activity factor not counting exercise to get RMR. The Physical Activity factor is from a different chart because it is a different formula and I would again go with moderate activity which is a factor of 1.5. Here is the math on this formula:
172 x 0.3 BF = 51.6 # BF
172 - 51.6 = 120.4 # LBM / 2.2046 = 54.61308174 kilograms LBM
1 x 54.61308174 x 24 = 1310.713962 BMR
1310.713962 x 1.5 = 1966.070943 RMR
1966 + 500 (Breastfeeding Calories) = 2466 TDEE (Not counting exercise)
2466 x 0.8 = 1972.8 Minimum Calories per day for fat loss.
So, with this formula you would need to add in your exercise calories to the TDEE and then multiply the new TDEE by 80% to get the minimum calories you'd need to eat. If you exercise off 500 Calories per day, then you'd get close to the same as the above recommended range, but since additional exercise isn't always an option in your day, you may be better off to estimate it this way and then add the exercise Calories. Personally, I set my goals on MFP to be the TDEE from this formula and then let it add the exercise Calories. Then it is a simple calculation of my total for the day after I exercise times 0.8 to determine the minimum number of Calories I need to eat. If I had your actual body fat percentage to be able to give you accurate numbers with this formula, that is what I would recommend. If you want me to do the math for you, PM me and I'll walk you through how to determine your body fat percentage if you don't already know it and then I'll do the math to be more accurate for you.0 -
Dang Tonya good work! While I've only worked with a couple of mothers who breast fed, I'm going to copy this down and look at it more carefully because it looks like a great approach. Thanks for posting.Okay, before I give you numbers I want to make sure you know my qualifications in determining them. I've been a certified personal trainer for almost 16 years. I've been a certified sports nutritionist for 6 years. As part of my certifications, I've completed continuing education classes in pre- and postpartum exercise. I've just completed my bachelor of science in exercise physiology with a minor in nutrition. Both the bachelors and minor were specific for working with clinical populations (including pregnant and breastfeeding mothers). The advice I will give you is based on the things I've learned in my coursework and exactly what I would do with a client.
There are numerous formulas out there and they use different things. Ideally, I would prefer to use your lean body mass in a formula instead of your total body mass, but since I don't have your body fat % I will go with the Institute of Medicine's formula for women.
354 - 6.91 x age + [ Physical Activity x ( 9.361 x Weight in Kilograms + 726 x Height in Meters)]
Physical activity is a figure based on your normal daily activity including exercise, which for you I'd set as active and use a figure of 1.27. (All of these figures and the formula for men can be found in the book "Nutrition for Health, Fitness, and Sport" by Melvin Williams.)
So, for you, here is the math.
354 - 6.91 x 35 + [ 1.27 x ( 9.361 x 78.0186882 + 726 x 1.7272)]
354 - 241.85 + [1.27 x (730.3329402 + 1253.9472)]
112.15 + [1.27 x 1984.28014]
112.15 + 2520.035778
2632.185778
I would then add in 500 Calories for breastfeeding, which would give you a total of 3132 Calories per day for your Total Daily Energy Expenditure. For weight loss, I recommend eating no less then 80% of your TDEE. 80% of your TDEE would be 2506 Calories per day. So, my recommendation would be to eat between 2506 and 3132 Calories per day to lose weight and still provide adequate nutrition for breastfeeding.
Now, this is based on total body weight and not lean mass. To promote fat loss, I was taught another way of figuring calorie needs based on subtracting out the body fat from the total body weight to have the lean mass number to put in a different formula. Since I don't have your body fat %, I can't accurately do that formula but I did estimate it and plug it in with a guesstimate of 30% body fat. (I used 30% body fat as that is the average body fat percentage I've seen working in women's fitness centers for the past 8 years, but is in no way a scientific average body fat for women so it may be high or low for you.) This formula is much simpler because it is 1 Calorie per kilogram of lean body weight per hour to estimate BMR. BMR is then multiplied by a physical activity factor not counting exercise to get RMR. The Physical Activity factor is from a different chart because it is a different formula and I would again go with moderate activity which is a factor of 1.5. Here is the math on this formula:
172 x 0.3 BF = 51.6 # BF
172 - 51.6 = 120.4 # LBM / 2.2046 = 54.61308174 kilograms LBM
1 x 54.61308174 x 24 = 1310.713962 BMR
1310.713962 x 1.5 = 1966.070943 RMR
1966 + 500 (Breastfeeding Calories) = 2466 TDEE (Not counting exercise)
2466 x 0.8 = 1972.8 Minimum Calories per day for fat loss.
So, with this formula you would need to add in your exercise calories to the TDEE and then multiply the new TDEE by 80% to get the minimum calories you'd need to eat. If you exercise off 500 Calories per day, then you'd get close to the same as the above recommended range, but since additional exercise isn't always an option in your day, you may be better off to estimate it this way and then add the exercise Calories. Personally, I set my goals on MFP to be the TDEE from this formula and then let it add the exercise Calories. Then it is a simple calculation of my total for the day after I exercise times 0.8 to determine the minimum number of Calories I need to eat. If I had your actual body fat percentage to be able to give you accurate numbers with this formula, that is what I would recommend. If you want me to do the math for you, PM me and I'll walk you through how to determine your body fat percentage if you don't already know it and then I'll do the math to be more accurate for you.
A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition0 -
Thanks to ALL who responded!!! I really appreciate the advice. I definitely will be careful with my milk supply and want to eat as many calories as needed to protect it, that's why I haven't restricted up until now. Now that he's 8mos I need to get this fat off lol. I think I am complicating it too much as one poster said....I just need to start with something I guess and then tweak it.
Thanks again. !!!0
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